Drawer for filing cabinets



Aug. 21, 1951 A. A. CHAUVIN 2,564,673

DRAWER FOR FILING CABINETS Filed April 2, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG! FIG.2

ANDRE ANTOINE CHAUVINI ATTORNEY Aug. 2E, 1951 A. A. CHAUVIN ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 21, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT F-ICE DRAWER FOR FILING CABINETS Andre Antoine Chauvin, Paris, l france; vested in the Attorney General of the United States Application April 2, 194-7, Serial No. -'739,013

.In France. September-27, '1941 Section 1, PubIic Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires September 27, 1961 3 Claims.

1 The invention particularly relates to filing cabinets with so-called, continuous, visible and vertically hung filing, comprising envelope-files hung from supporting rods, which can be moved on the fixed slideways of aframe or framework. Reference will more especially be made to the filing cabinets of the type having formed the subject-matter of the French Patent N0. 804,724,

dated July'26, 1935, and essentially characterised by the fact that inorder to form by means of the envelope-files a kind of uninterrupted accordion, the latter are coupled two by two by means of supporting rods.

If the advantages of such a system have been recognized by use, the fact still remains that it is of excessive cumbersomeness because, in order to consult'the files, it-is necessary toprovide a certain clearance between them and, consequent- 'ly,;to take care not to charge'the filing cabinet so that the supporting-rods fill up all the'available space of the slideways.

supporting rods ,whichucompletelyfill up the lat- .ter, the possibility .of acquiring the clearance necessary for their nr1anipu1ation and, on the other hand, to the file-carrying envelopes, the

facility of being opened in orderto allow, either the desiredfile to be consulted, or the removal. of documents or introduction of new documents. The same result can be obtained by rendering the usual slideways or their attaching means extensible, so as to follow the movements of the handle.

Another object of the invention consists in combining with said handle or the front face, a device automatically locking the front part rendered movable according to the invention so as to prevent any removal of documents when the drawer, pushed home in its housing, is, in the usual manner, locked at the rear by means of the known lock and rack closing device.

The accompanying drawing given by way of example shows, among others, some embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic View of a filing cabinet with verticallyhung files showing the space compulsorily sacrificed on the slideways a in order to have, at every instant, the necessary clearance, for instance at b, of the supporting rods forthe rational utilisation of the filing'cabinet.

Fig. 2 also diagrammatically shows the purpose contemplated by the-invention and which allows of completely fillingup the slideways with the rods which serve for'hanging the envelopefiles whilst doing away with the' lostspace'b.

Fig. '3 illustrates a first embodiment-according 'to which the front face c of the drawer d is removable and draws'along with itfby actuating the handle e, lateral cheek membersf-the'upper edge f of which forms an extension of the "edge d of the cheek members forming slidewaysof the drawer proper andonwhich the supporting rods can be caused'to slide-until the desired file has been disengaged. Thus, every facility will be had, for obtaining, owing to the extensionof theslideways, the space-b of Fig. '1, necessary for the free action of the rods and the entirecapacity o of the filing cabinet will finally-have been completely used. It will be readily understood 'thata stop,-for instancea small stud g can abut against the edge of the fixed drawer proper "d and limit the stroke of themovable extension 7.

Fig. 4 clearly shows how the use of supplementary slideways, exactly in alignment" with theusual slideways, allows the s'pacingapart' of the supporting rods giving access at b to tlie n e q ffi t b c lt elthqli :S i subporting rods, as shown in Fig. 2, completely fill up the normal slideways in "position of rest.

Instead of moving normally according to a horizontal direc tion, the extension 1 could simply pivot at h on the front "base of the drawer, 'the lateral cheeks being then cut out in the form of semi-circular sectors as seen in Fig. 5, on the edge f of which the supporting rods could engage as easily as in the embodiment according to Fig. 3.

The extension of the slideways could be obtained owing to the extensibility of the material employed. For instance, the latter might be constituted by a coil spring 1' (see Fig. 6) having very close turns and capable of extending along the necessary length 17 to follow the forward pulling or rocking of the movable front face 0 of the drawer 11, said displacements being preferably guided by a compass i. In order to avoid any yielding oi the slideway under the weight of the files, the spring r on which the supportingrods t (see Fig. 7) are placed by means of their 3 usual notches, could rest in a groove provided at the upper part of the lateral cheeks of the drawer or on a sheet metal plate which would be secured thereon.

The slideways might also, as shown in Fig. 8, be constituted by a flexible wire is guided by rollers Z Z and restored by a coil spring m.

Finally, Figs. 9 and 10 show, in two successive opening positions, a modification according to which the movable slideways are obtained by rods n broken in the form of compasses.

The opening of the front part of the drawer, a certain number of embodiments of which have been given above by way of examples and not in a limiting sense, shows that the usual closing of said drawer with locking at the rear by means of lock and rack becomes insuflicient, since said drawer remains accessible by the fact that the front is rendered movable. It is therefore necessary to provide another system for locking said ;movable part when the handle has pushed the drawer back home, that is to say in the position in which the rear locking can take place in the usual manner. The present invention has solved this problem by arranging a front locking link-work actuated by the opening or closing movements imparted to the handle of the drawer.

Figs. 11 to 14 show in perspective views an embodiment of this device applied to a drawer (1 having a rocking front face 0. In the fixed slideways d slide telescopic slideways j which the forward movement of the handle e causes to come out exactly in alignment with the fixed slideways on which the supporting rods 12 are arranged. For that purpose, the movable slideways f' are united by a bar I which is'rendered rigid with the front face by resilient fingers 1 The slideways I might also be actuated by hand, by acting on the bar P. On the front face 0 of the drawer are secured bell-crank link-works v, .r, y pivoting at 2 on the lateral Wall of the drawer, Fig. 11 showing the open position and Fig. 12 the closed position according to which the finger y, lowered, can engage in a stop g secured on the differential slideway g for the forward movement of the drawer. On the contrary, in open position, the bar at abuts against a stop s secured on the lateral wall of the drawer.

The rods 1; guided in notches o of said wall, can not only be rigid with the front face, but can form extensions of the lateral branches of the operating handle e.

Figs. 13 and 14 clearly show how the passage of the supporting rods t of the fixed slideway on the movable slideway and reversely takes place without shocks, for opening the pocket 1) or the retracting of the rods at the front in order to reach any pocket among those distributed all along -the slideways d. For that puropse the junction between the slideways d and f is preferably effected by means of an incline q over the edges of which the notches of the rods t progressively straddle.

I claim:

1. A drawer for filing cabinet of the type having vertically hung files, said drawer having a bottom, two sides, a movable front connected for horizontal swinging movement relative to the bottom, fixed file-supporting slideways along the upper edges of the sides, movable file-supporting slideways operatively connected with the inner face of the movable front and slidably telescoped within the fixed slideway to form extensions of the latter on the forward swinging of the movable front, a cross bar in said drawer connecting the front edges of said movable slideways and resilient fingers carried by the inner surface of the movable front near the upper edges thereof for operative connection with said cross bar.

2. A drawer for filing cabinet as claimed in claim 1 in which differential drawer supporting slideways are also associated with the outer surfaces of the side walls of the drawer near the bottom thereof, slotted stops secured on each of the differential slideways, bell-crank levers also fulcrumed on the outer surface of the side walls of the drawer the outer portions of which are adapted for engagement with the slotted stops when the drawer is closed, link members operably mounted through the movable front of the drawer and pivotally connected to the inner portions of the bell crank levers and stops fixed on the side walls of the drawer and against which the inner portions of the bell crank levers hear when in open position to limit outward movement of the link members.

3. A drawer for filing cabinet as claimed in claim 2 in which the link members are slidably arranged through the front of the drawer and a cross bar serving as a handle positioned exteriorly of the front of the drawer for connecting the forward ends of the link members together.

ANDRE ANTOINE CHAUVIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 745,693 Tobey Dec. 1, 1903 871,102 Blaine Nov. 19, 1907 2,116,370 Watkins May 3, 1938 2,202,088 Clark May 28, 1940 2,232,531 Houston et al. Feb. 18, 1941 2,388,922 Liesken Nov. 13, 1945 

